GOLETA, Calif. — Feeling super might be becoming routine for the Oregon baseball team. But that doesn’t make it feel any less special.
The Ducks are headed to Super Regionals in consecutive seasons for the first time ever, after sweeping through their NCAA Regional for the second year in a row. Oregon will play at Texas A&M in a best-of-three matchup for a spot in the College World Series, after clinching the Santa Barbara Regional with a 3-0 win Sunday over host UCSB.
Oregon is in the Super Regionals for the second year in a row, after coming up painfully short at home against Oral Roberts in 2023. The Ducks bounced back from a winless Pac-12 Tournament appearance by grindingout three wins at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium by a combined five runs.
“We knew that we had our hands full, and we had our hands full all weekend,” UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. “And we were blessed enough to come out on top. I’m just proud of the guys that I get a chance to represent, and their grit and determination. We got a few breaks, and we had a lot of really quality play.”
Kevin Seitter pitched a four-hit shutout Sunday, as the Ducks got extended efforts on the mound in all three games to sweep their way through the regional. Seitter, Grinsell and RJ Gordon combined to go 23 innings while allowing just three earned runs across wins over San Diego on Friday, UCSB on Saturday and the Gauchos again on Sunday.
“From the first inning on, my guys were making plays behind me left and right,” said Seitter, a senior transfer from Quinnipiac. “It was really fun to watch, and just to be a part of something like that is really special. Pitch-wise my fastball was working pretty well, and I had my breaking stuff, which was great. But I don’t want to take away from the team effort at all. That was one of the best things I’ve ever seen, and it was so fun to be a part of.”
Offensively the Ducks gave Seitter a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and they added another run in the fifth. In the seventh, Jacob Walsh tied the UO single-season record with his 18th home run of the year, as Oregon’s bats bounced back from a relatively quiet Pac-12 Tournament the previous week.
“We definitely didn’t do what we wanted to do in the Pac-12 Tournament offensively, but we were definitely sticking with the plan that (assistant coach Jack) Marder gave us,” said second baseman Drew Smith, whoseRBI single in the first inning gave Oregon the early lead Sunday. “He works tirelessly to get us right and have a really good plan for us going into the games, and I think that’s what we did all weekend — really stuck to the plan and really just got after it with good at-bats.”
How It Happened: Seitter didn’t allow a runner in scoring position until there were two outs in the ninth inning, and he allowed only one hit through the first seven frames. He ended up allowing four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts, throwing 128 pitches in the first complete-game shutout by a UO starter this season.
He got support right off the bat. Oregon was the designated home team Sunday, and after Mason Neville walked to lead off the bottom of the first, he took second on an out and scored on Smith’s RBI single.
The Ducks didn’t get another hit until the fifth, but again it produced a run. Bryce Boettcher walked with two outs, stole second and scored on a base hit by Neville that made it 2-0.
Walsh provided Oregon’s third hit of the game — and the third to produce a run — with his leadoff homer in the seventh. He extended his UO career record to 40 home runs with his 18th of the season, which tied the school single-season record set last season by Sabin Ceballos.
The homer came off UCSB reliever Reed Moring, who struck Walsh out in Oregon’s 2-1 victory over the Gauchos on Saturday. A day later, Walsh got the better of the matchup.
“Last night he came at me with the same pitch,” Walsh said. “And I told myself I wasn’t gonna miss it again tonight.”
That insurance run helped ease some of the tension in the ninth inning. With two outs, UCSB put together consecutive singles that put runners at the corners — including the first runner of the game for the Gauchos to reach scoring position.
But Seitter struck out the final hitter, capping Oregon’s second straight scoreless start after Grinsell threw seven shutout innings Saturday — a week after neither Seitter nor Grinsell appeared in the team’s two Pac-12 Tournament losses.
“Maybe that rest helped them,” Wasikowski said. “They’ve both been outstanding here down the stretch, and so I don’t know if that was the full key — but I don’t think it hurt. And for the strength of Kevin to finish that game off in the ninth inning, you know, he would have punched us if we’d tried to come and take the ball away from him. He deserved the opportunity to win that game on his own.”
All-Tournament Team: Carter Garate had a single Sunday to finish the weekend 5-for-10 with four RBIs along with stellar defense at third base, earning him regional MVP honors. Grinsell and Seitter were the two starting pitchers on the all-region team, and Smith and Boettcher made the team as well. Smith went 4-for-9 with two RBIs on the weekend, while Boettcher had the home run that beat San Diego in the 11th inning on Friday.
On Deck: The Ducks play at Texas A&M in the Super Regionals beginning Friday or Saturday.
